Witnesses describe ‘chaotic’ scene of downtown Seattle shooting
Jan 23, 2020, 8:26 AM | Updated: 10:18 am
The scene of a downtown Seattle shooting at the end of January 2020. (Amy Clancy, KIRO 7)
(Amy Clancy, KIRO 7)
Witnesses describe chaos and violence when eight people were shot in downtown Seattle Wednesday night.
“It was just very chaotic,” a witness named Becky told KIRO Nights.
Becky works in downtown Seattle, and heard a “rapid fire of shots, maybe 10 or 12” ring out. From her view on the 21st floor, she noted that “it was quite apparent” what was happening down on the ground.
“Several of my coworkers and I went and looked out the window, and we could see people running on Third [Avenue],” she described. “So I went downstairs and out onto Fourth Avenue from our office, and I saw immediately to my right — which was the corner of Fourth and Pike — a man down.”
“The police had just arrived,” she continued. “So I walked past and turned right down Pike Street towards Third. As I came around the corner on Third Avenue, there were two more people on the sidewalk in the middle of the block. A woman in a wheelchair was on the ground. Her chair was next to her and a man, and I walked beyond them. There were two more people in the corner of Pine and Third across from Macy’s.”
Police search for 2 male suspects in fatal downtown Seattle shooting
Another witness named Robyn was leaving a bus on Virginia Street right as she heard the sound of gunfire.
“I literally stepped off the bus and the shots were fired — it seemed so close to me,” she told KIRO Radio. “I just saw cops everywhere and people running around, and I don’t even know if the cops knew was going on because it happened so fast.”
“My heart was pounding so much,” she added.
Tyler Parsons, an employee at Victrola Coffee Shop, told The Seattle Times people ran to take cover behind the register and he rushed some customers and a co-worker into a storage room.
Police are reportedly searching for a pair of male suspects in their 20s, as they continue to review surveillance footage and speak to witnesses. Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best expects the department to release an image or video of the suspects to the public “ASAP.”
“We will relentlessly investigate tonight’s shooting at Third and Pine until all those responsible are brought to justice,” Chief Best said in a Wednesday night Tweet.
Police are asking anyone with further photo or video evidence of Wednesday night’s shooting to submit it here.
